Additions to the lower, rear garden this year have been successful, I think. A raised planting bed was dug from a small area of weedy, damp lawn, so any change was likely to be an improvement. The recently added rock and gravel garden along the edge of the raised bed isn’t much to look at today, but I expect a few creeping perennials will make a show in the spring while the slower succulents get started. Another few years of growth on several Japanese maples could make this a favored place, so I’m delighted by changes in garden’s thirty-third year.

I’ve begun considering additions that will better enclose this area. A canna lily that grew six feet or taller reminded me of a pollarded paulownia (Paulownia tomentosa) I once grew, though the paulownia became too massive for a much smaller spot closer to the house. In only a few years this near weed of a tree could be splendid in the lower garden where there is more space for the huge leaves and multiple trunks. And, while I consider these large leaves, I’m also thinking about planting the cold hardy banana, Musa basjoo.

Deer quickly munched a banana planted long ago, and I haven’t given it much thought again until now. As I walk down into the lower, rear garden it begs for more mass at the edges. The banana and paulownia should do the trick, probably overdo it, but that’s rarely a problem for me.

The splendid flowers of paulownia will be eliminated by pollarding, which will double the size of the leaves but also eliminate chances for seedlings. Of course, my only hesitation is what happens after I’m dead and gone, but there are dozens of potential issues for the next owner that might be best solved by renting a bulldozer for a week.